INDIGENOUS RIGHTS
Winds of Change: Endorsements

In the words of Justice Murray Sinclair: “Education is what got us here and education is what will get us out”. Education is the cornerstone for change.

Campaign Endorsements

In June of 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) released 94 Calls to Action to guide us towards a repaired relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples and a more just and equitable future.

The TRC concluded that education is key to reconciliation. It has the potential to end in one generation a profound ignorance about our history that continues to perpetuate intolerance and racism.

We support the KAIROS and Legacy of Hope Foundation campaign for urgent implementation of TRC 62i which calls for the federal, provincial and territorial governments, in consultation with Indigenous peoples, “to make age-appropriate curriculum on residential schools, treaties and Aboriginal peoples’ historical and contemporary contributions to Canada a mandatory education requirement for Kindergarten to Grade Twelve students.”

The proposed curriculum change, where Indigenous wisdom is the foundation, will transform both the education system and Canadian society. Knowing and understanding the truth about our collective past is an important step toward a brighter, more positive, more respectful future. We believe that with the truth we can touch both the hearts and the minds of Canada’s children so that they can become leaders in building the reconciliation our country so desperately needs.

OTTAWA OFFICE

KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives acknowledges that the Toronto office is on the traditional territory of the Huron-Wendat, Seneca and Mississaugas of the New Credit Indigenous Peoples. The Ottawa office is on the unceded traditional territory of the Algonquin Peoples.